Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro: TURNING POINTS

Timothy Keller describes the resurrection as “the hinge upon which the story of the world pivots.”

The doctrine of the resurrection has profound implications for how anyone lives.

The resurrection of Christ in the past and the resurrection of human beings in the future have deep practical significance for the present.

It changes the way both death and life are understood and experienced.

Paul addresses the topic of the resurrection this way:

• The Realities of the Resurrection

• The Implications of the Resurrection

• The Application of the Resurrection

I love EASTER!

Maybe more than Christmas

Theologian Erich Sauer has written, “The present age is Easter time.

It begins with the resurrection of the Redeemer and ends with the resurrection of the redeemed.

Between lies the spiritual resurrection of those called into life through Christ.

So we live between two Easters, and in the power of the first Easter we go to meet the last Easter.”

The last Easter to which Sauer refers is, of course, the bodily resurrection of the saved.

Transition:

Context:

Some have suggested that Paul reserved this chapter on the Resurrection till last because he thought that a firm belief in it would help solve many of the Corinthians’ problems.

Chapter 15 falls into two main sections.

Verses 1–34 present Paul’s arguments for the certainty of the bodily resurrection, while verses 35–58 discuss the nature of resurrection bodies.

The first section also divides into two parts.

Verses 1–11 reiterate the fact of Christ’s bodily resurrection.

Verses 12–34 outline the consequences of disbelief and belief in this fact.

The first of these parts in turn has three components.

Verses 12–19 and 29–34 both argue for the absurdity of Christian belief and practice if the bodily resurrection is not true.

In between, verses 20–28 gloriously reaffirm that it is true and point to some of the consequences of this grand doctrine.

The main point of verses 12–19 is that if there is no coming bodily resurrection of all Christians, then Jesus himself was not bodily raised, and that makes Christianity futile.

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God’s ultimate re-creation of new heavens and a new earth in equally material terms.

In other words, God intends to see that his original creative purposes are not thwarted.

Anything less than full bodily resurrection and full re-creation of the cosmos might still give believers an enjoyable experience but would not vindicate God against all his enemies or provide the absolute perfection that he intends for his people.

How do we know if Jesus has raised?

Christ’s death and resurrection in space and time, as bona fide historical events, actually set Christianity apart from all its major rivals.

Later Western religions that developed in part in reaction to Christianity do not claim deity or resurrections for their originators, merely prophetic status (e.g., Mohammed in Islam or Joseph Smith in Mormonism).

Older Eastern religions do not even require the actual historical existence of their founders for their beliefs and practices to make sense.

In some ways they are more akin to philosophies than to historical truth-claims (e.g., Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism).

But Christianity lives or dies with the claim of Christ’s resurrection.

To be sure, it is possible to believe in Jesus’ resurrection and not become a Christian,30 but without the bodily resurrection Christianity crumbles.

Finding the bones of Jesus would assuredly disprove our religion!

Historians usually recognize the absurdity of most of the proposed alternatives to the resurrection—the swoon theory, the stolen body or wrong tomb, mass hallucination, and so on, though that does not stop more popular writers from continuing to perpetuate such nonsense.

By recording the resurrection appearances, the New Testament leaves no doubt about this event.

• In or around Jerusalem

To Mary Magdalene (John 20:11–18)

To the other women (Matt.

28:8–10)

To Peter (Luke 24:34)

To ten disciples (Luke 24:36–43; John 20:19–25)

To the Eleven, including Thomas (John 20:26–29)

At His ascension (Luke 24:50–53; Acts 1:4–12)

• To the disciples on the Emmaus road (Luke 24:13–35)

• In Galilee (Matt.

28:16–20; John 21:1–24)

• To five hundred people (1 Cor.

15:6)

• To James and the apostles (1 Cor.

15:6)

• To Paul on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1–6; Ac 18:9, 10; 22:1–8; 23:11; 26:12–18; 1 Cor.

15:8)

15:1–11 To begin his teachings about the resurrection of believers, Paul reviewed the evidences for Jesus’ resurrection: 1) the church (vv. 1, 2); 2) the Scriptures (vv.

3, 4); 3) the eyewitnesses (vv.

5–7); 4) the apostle himself (vv.

8–10); and 5) the common message (v.

11).

15:12 some among you say.

The Corinthian Christians believed in Christ’s resurrection, or else they could not have been Christians (cf.

John 6:44; 11:25; Acts 4:12; 2 Cor.

4:14; 1 Thess.

4:16).

But some had particular difficulty accepting and understanding the resurrection of believers.

On the other hand, NT teaching in the words of our Lord Himself was extensive on the resurrection (John 5:28, 29; 6:44; 11:25; 14:19) and it was the theme of the apostolic preaching (Acts 4:1, 2).

In spite of that clarity, the church at Corinth was in doubt about the resurrection.

1st importance...

15:13–19 Paul spells out the implications of a denial of bodily resurrection: (1) Christ has not been raised from the dead (vv.

13, 16); (2) the apostolic preaching is useless (v.

14); (3) faith is useless (vv.

14, 17); (4) the apostles are falsely testifying about God (v.

15); (5) the sins of Christians have not been forgiven (v.

17); (6) the Christians who have died are lost forever (v.

18); and (7) Christians are the most pitiful people because they base their lives on a lie (v.

19).

The contents of the early Christian “creed” embedded in verses 3–7 also refute all the classic suggestions that have been made down through the centuries to account for the origin of resurrection faith apart from a literal bodily resurrection.

That “Christ died” disputes the claim that he merely swooned and recovered in the tomb.

“That he was buried” renders implausible the views that the disciples stole his body or that the women went to the wrong tomb.

Eventually a body could have been produced and the disciples’ story laid to rest.

The verb ophthe (“appeared”) refers more naturally to an objective reality that the disciples saw rather than to some subjective vision (as might more plausibly be the case with the word horama—“vision”).

The number of witnesses and numerous occasions on which Christ appeared seem to rule out mass hallucination.

By mentioning Jesus’ appearance to two people who did not previously believe in him (Paul and James), Paul refutes the contention that the appearances were the projections of individuals who had so much personally invested in Christ that they simply couldn’t imagine him remaining dead.

Having established the resurrection of Christ as essential to the gospel, preached uniformly by the apostles, and believed universally by the churches, Paul now confronts the problem of some in Corinth who were denying the resurrection of the dead.

The argument unfolds in two parts (15:12–34, 35–58).

The first part deals with the question of resurrection generally and divides into three units (15:12–19, 20–28, 29–34).

In 15:12–19 Paul takes up the position of those who deny the resurrection.

He argues that to deny the resurrection of the dead generally is to deny the resurrection of Christ specifically, which has disastrous theological consequences.

The whole structure of Christian preaching and belief collapses.

If the resurrection is false, belief is implausible.

If Jesus has not been raised from the dead, then the gospel is invalidated.

You can experience freedom from sin v.12-20

When God created man He made him perfect, righteous, good, and subservient.

At the Fall, this supreme creature of God, along with all the rest of His creation, was corrupted and ruined.

But the new men He creates through His Son will never be corrupted or ruined.

They will be raised up to live and reign eternally in His eternal kingdom with His eternal Son.

Ok… so love makes everything meaningful… Now this is first importance…

To Martha He said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies” (John 11:25).

The fact that Jesus died “for our sins” (v. 3) reminds us both of our need and of Jesus’ atoning work, as nothing short of God’s Son enduring divine judgment in our place could redeem us.

The phrase “in accordance with the Scriptures” (vv.

3–4) teaches us that Christ’s work fulfills God’s saving purposes, implying that all of Scripture points us ultimately to the grace of God in Christ.

Jesus’ burial confirms that he really died, and his appearances to eyewitnesses confirm that he truly rose.